From Smart Solutions
There’s an ongoing debate inside the online community on whether YouTube or Vimeo is the best video platform, so we thought we’d throw our hat in the ring.
Unfortunately, it’s not a debate that will ever have a definitive answer—it’s simply another question of audience and goals. While YouTube has a significantly larger and wider chunk of visitors, Vimeo holds its own with a particular crowd. Check out what we have to say below and choose for yourself which video platform is best for your business.
Audience – YouTube vs. Vimeo
The YouTube audience tends to be the pop culture crowd. These are the people who are watching trailers for new movies, checking out the latest music videos and uploading videos of their cats doing tricks.
The Vimeo audience puts their emphasis on art, culture and sophistication. A lot of people would call the Vimeo users the “hipster” crowd. People who scroll through Vimeo on a regular basis are usually looking for inspiration for a new project, or checking out their friends’ latest uploads.
Goal – Vimeo and YouTube
After analyzing the audience of the two video platforms, you need to decide what you want to get out of a video platform. Are you showcasing your latest work? Are you trying to promote a product? Are you trying to hold a contest?
If your goal is mainly art-related, or targeted to a small audience of viewers, Vimeo works great. It’s a beautiful platform, allows for longer videos and has a smaller community of more dedicated viewers.
If your goal is to reach the masses, promote a product to the world or get lots of viewers, your best bet is YouTube. It’s the second largest search engine in the world, owned by Google and super easy to use.
Both sites are great for their particular audiences and goals, so there’s no one better to decide which one to use than YOU—the company’s owner.
We’re always open for a chat with you about putting together a video marketing strategy for your company, so give us a call or send us a contact request if you have any questions!
The biggest takeaway on this for me is the search results on YouTube. I haven’t approached it from that angle before.
@ February 16th, 2013 at 14:20Absolutely! Google is definitely partial to their own video platform, so companies that are looking to get found through their video marketing are probably better off with YouTube!
@ February 18th, 2013 at 08:15Thanks for commenting, John!